The illegal capture of fish is a threat to marine resources and, therefore, to the economy of thousands of families in the Yucatan Peninsula region. Fishermen's cooperatives are clear about this, but combating the problem represents a major challenge.

This is not a new problem, it has been documented for decades, but the effects are already visible. A decline in the population of fish of high ecological importance and others of commercial interest has forced fishermen to organize themselves to address the problem.

Through the Kanan Kay (Fish Keeper, in Mayan language) alliance, six cooperatives in the Mexican Caribbean are focused on monitoring the region's Fishing Refuge Zones, in order to ensure the sustainability of the species.

The initiative began in 2012 with the creation of the first Network of Fishing Shelters in Quintana Roo. The Cozumel Fisheries Cooperative took the first steps to involve workers in the sector in the active protection of marine resources.

To date, this group has also been joined by the fishing cooperatives Andrés Quintana Roo, Vígía Chico, Banco Chinchorro, Langosteros del Caribe and the tourism cooperative Mujeres del Mar.

One of the objectives for 2022 is to cover the entire peninsular region.

Carrying out surveillance tours, submitting information to make complaints, disseminating environmental protection practices, are some of the activities that cooperatives have joined.

The project focuses on the care and surveillance of Refuge Zones because they are key sites for the conservation and long-term livelihood of fishing populations, explained Victoria Jiménez, coordinator of the Alliance.

These are areas delimited in waters under federal jurisdiction, with the primary purpose of conserving and contributing to the development of fishery resources, for their reproduction, growth or recruitment, as well as preserving and protecting the surrounding environment, in accordance with the provisions of the General Law on Sustainable Fisheries and Aquaculture.

Victoria Jiménez, coordinator of Kanan Kay, explained that although the central axis of the Alliance's activities are cooperatives, behind them there is a group of experts and

civil society organizations, such as the Mexican Fund for the Conservation of Nature (FMCN). Healtly Reefs Initiative, the Mexican Center for Environmental Law (CEMDA), Oceanus A.C, Sustainable Sea, among others.

“It emerges as a need, first because there was a drop in catches and also because there was an intention to protect the Mesoamerican Reef,” explained the coordinator.

The alliance currently covers 17 fishing shelters, representing an area of 19,000 hectares.

One of the main objectives is to increase the fish population by 30% in these Zones, established in critical habitats. These actions lead to the “overflow effect”, that is, the repopulation of species of commercial and ecological interest in surrounding areas where fishing is allowed.

Jiménez explained that combating poaching is not a simple task for fishermen, as it commonly brings conflicts with people from their own communities or is even threatened.

“It often happens that, since they are small communities, they know the people who do illegal fishing, and confronting them causes problems,” he said.

Kanan Kay has a mobile reporting application, through which each case is sent to the appropriate authorities without revealing the identity of the complainant.

“The complaint comes out in the name of the Alliance, no longer the fisherman, and a lawyer from the alliance is following up on it,” he said.

Fishermen also receive legal training, because as community vigilantes they have limited powers, since they cannot use force or make arrests.

In the work areas there are identified red dots. One of them is the Nizuc channel, which connects the Caribbean Sea with the Nichupté Lagoon, in Cancun, Quintana Roo.

Poaching fishermen are present here almost every night. The signs indicating the prohibition of capture seem useless.

In this site, declared a Refuge Zone in 2018, bad practices jeopardize the reproduction of species of high environmental and commercial relevance, recognizes Arturo González, director of the West Coast National Park of Isla Mujeres, Punta Cancún and Punta Nizuc.

In the town of Akumal, there is also a serious problem, since in the coastal area, remains of species whose extraction is prohibited, such as the pink snail, have appeared.

In Banco Chinchorro, for example, illegal fishermen extract lobsters without respecting minimum sizes and closed periods.

Illegal catch doesn't just affect fish

The extraction of marine resources without authorization puts at risk not only fish stocks, but also the ecological balance, said Melina Soto, of the Healthy Reefs Initiative.

When you do illegal fishing, he said, you have no idea what you're extracting from, the species, sizes, volumes.

Off the coast of the Mexican Caribbean, the Mesoamerican Reef, one of the largest coral reefs in the world, extends for more than a thousand kilometers, on which multiple environmental and economic services for coastal communities depend.

The Healthy Reefs Initiative has been studying the health of this reef system for more than a decade, using four main indicators: live corals, macroalgae growth, commercial fish biomass and herbivorous fish biomass.

All the indicators are related to each other, for there to be living corals, there must be balance. Herbivorous fish feed on fleshy algae, thus preventing them from growing on corals and suffocating them.

Parrotfish, essential for reef health, are protected by the Official Mexican Standard 059-Semarnat-2010, but poaching does not distinguish protected species.

The latest Healthy Reefs report, published in 2020, shows a decline in the population of reef fish, both herbivorous and commercial, which has direct impacts on coral health.

Melina Soto recalled that the Mesoamerican Reef is seriously impacted, following the outbreak of White Syndrome disease in 2018, which wiped out colonies of more than 25 species.

The reef provides protection to coastal infrastructure from hurricanes and storms.

It is home to hundreds of marine species and offers natural beauty for the development of tourist activities.

Illegal fishing, with irresponsible practices, also has impacts on other types of fauna, such as birds or sea turtles.

Alfredo Benitez has been working for more than 10 years in Cancun's Nichupté Lagoon. Every day he observes birds entangled in fishing lines, which get stuck in the mangroves, he said.

The founder of the Mangrove Protection Front initiative also stated that illegal fishermen not only extract fish in restricted areas, but they also throw garbage that is later eaten by crocodiles; they leave fishing lines and nets lying around, which then strangle birds and marine fauna.

“The other day, a hawksbill turtle was found entangled in a fishing line; weeks ago we were able to rescue a heron that was hanging from the mangrove, with its hook in its beak. It's an everyday thing,” he said.

He also added that poachers light bonfires in areas that are not allowed, as the catch takes place at night.

Extend shelter areas

In Quintana Roo, more than 95% of territorial waters have a protection scheme before the National Commission for Protected Natural Areas (Conanp).

The Mexican Caribbean Biosphere Reserve alone covers an area of 5.6 million hectares. But areas where extraction is completely restricted do not represent even 0.5%.

According to Melina Soto, Mexico should bet on international standards, where 30% of the marine territory is spoken of under a strict protection scheme, that is, where no type of extraction is allowed.

“It's important to understand the role that fish play in the health of the marine ecosystem and in our own health. We are a coastal region and many families depend on fishing for economic resources and for their food security,” he said.

The Kanan Kay Alliance also works to socialize with communities so that they are the ones who promote new Fishing Refuge Zones.

With the expansion plan to Yucatán and Campeche, the Alliance seeks to replicate the model implemented in Quintana Roo over the past 10 years, with successful results.

Victoria Jiménez explained that both in Campeche and Yucatán, communities and cooperatives with work potential have already been identified.

“Fishermen are trying to take action, to commit, we are working on that process of change,” he concluded.